CALGARY, Alberta -- To be clear, Derick Brassard's participation in the 2018-19 NHL season isn't optional.
Yeah, a lot of good stuff's happened to the Penguins on this side of the border the past few days: They outmuscled the league's hottest team in Toronto. They outgunned one of the league's fastest teams in Edmonton. Sidney Crosby's set straight any doubts about the planet's best player. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel are clicking again. Patric Hornqvist's scoring again. Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin have been the league's premier defense pair this month. Matt Murray's settling, too.
But all of that and a whole lot more still won't undo the damage Brassard's doing to the broader picture.
He needs to produce.
He needs to produce points, not just pointless, shift-killing spins around the rink, and he needs to get around to doing that, oh, by 9:08 p.m. today against the Flames here at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
If that sounds harsh, consider that it's barely even an opinion on my part: Through seven games, he's got one goal, one assist and nine shots. Of that output, the goal and six of those nine shots came in that wild, weird opener against the Capitals. Which means that, ever since the hockey got serious, he's got no goals and three shots over the past six games.
Seriously, that's three shots over 110 shifts!
Rewinding to when Jim Rutherford traded for Brassard in March, it gets worse: In 33 total games with the Penguins, including last season's Stanley Cup playoffs, he's got all of five goals and nine assists.
Look, I like him. I respect him. I was all in favor of Rutherford giving up what he gave up to get him. And I've believed him every time he's told me he's giving it all he's got, that he wants nothing more than to perform for this team, that he takes no issue with working on a third line behind two legendary centers, that he doesn't mind being tried on left wing, that he's finally getting comfortable with his coaches, teammates, the system and all else.
He spoke much the same following a morning skate today that saw him and Mark Recchi stay on the ice an extra 20 minutes doing nothing more than shooting pucks.
"I just have to be patient with it and, anytime I have shifts at center, I have to do my best," Brassard said afterward. "Same thing if I go on the wing with Sid and Jake. Have to be good there. Tonight, we have a little different lineup, and we'll see what's going to happen."
Hm. That sure sounded like a giveaway that he'll open tonight's game on left wing next to Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.
"I've had some really good looks, good scoring chances," Brassard continued. "Didn't really get any bounces and stuff, but I liked the way I skated and everything. Just have to keep going. If I have some scoring chances, produces some scoring chances, I'm in the right direction."
Not much new there. Same for when I asked Mike Sullivan his thoughts:
So I'll take a different approach here and offer up three of my own theories as to why we're still waiting, these in ascending order:
3. He's hurt.
I know, I know. No one wants to hear that. Especially not after neither Brassard nor the team ever divulged what cost him a few games shortly after the trade and, presumably, lingered through the playoffs.
But it's painfully visible that he's playing without any semblance of the grit he'd shown all through the previous parts of his career -- seldom going to the net, whirling away from contact -- and given that his grit was part of the reason he'd earned that 'Big Game Brass' nickname for his playoff elevations, it's at least fair to consider this.
Also, he was conspicuously the only player Sullivan gave 'a maintenance day' at practice here Wednesday. Those are almost always related to at least a minor injury, though Brassard dismissed that Thursday.
2. He doesn't fit.
I have a hard time with this one, too, if only because I've observed Brassard for a few months now, and he's anything but the type to have a tough time assimilating. He's open, honest, engaging, outgoing and receptive. On the ice, too, although he's acknowledged to me that it's been tough finding the right chemistry, he opened this season flanked by Dominik Simon and Bryan Rust, two players who, while hardly stars, have a history of clicking in complementary roles.
As for coming to Pittsburgh with potentially heightened team expectations, I'll toss that out, as well. Remember, 'Big Game Brass' was the one beating this same group for years.
But hey, maybe he doesn't fit some other way.
1. He doesn't think he's got to score.
This is my new favorite on this front. Feels like it makes the most sense.
Goes like this: Although Brassard claims he doesn't mind being on the third line and on the No. 2 power-play unit, although he's adamant about doing what's best for the group, there can be a great chasm in sports -- of all levels -- between players who can score and player who must score. There's a different sense of duty attached to the latter, and this player, from my perspective, goes about his business as if his production is gravy.
For example, I’ve covered the past two Olympic hockey tournaments, and it was common there to see exceptional players show up and defer to more exceptional players. Back in the NHL, their teams would win or lose based on whether they’d score At the global level, they’d see it as OK to do other things
This would at least explain why Brassard defers as he does, to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. It also would explain why he now hardly ever shoots despite a career average of 2.07 shots per game. It also would explain why he now hardly ever gets anywhere near a goaltender, where previously he was a pretty annoying opponent. It's as if he's going over the boards with the mindset of holding down the fort.
Any of that adding up?
None of this is making excuses, mind you. The time for that's past, even if it's learned that Brassard is, in fact, playing through pain. If he's been healthy enough to suit up, he's certainly been healthy enough to generate more than a shot every other game. If he's not understanding what's expected, he'd do quite well to pipe up and ask.
Because here's the real damage I referenced above: Sullivan's lines really don't work without Brassard as a contributing, dynamic third-line center. That's why he's had an equally quiet Rust on the top line. That's why he's moving Hornqvist all over creation. That's why the closest he's come to deploying a quality third line has been when he's effectively promoted fourth-liners Matt Cullen and Riley Sheahan onto a makeshift trio with Hornqvist.
It's not sustainable. Nor should it need to be.
• It wasn't coincidence that Jack Johnson was on the ice for all five of Edmonton's goals Tuesday night. He was late making reads, late on the backtrack, late, late, late every which way he turned. That's what's happened to him too often in his career, especially toward the end of his tenure in Columbus and, thus, it's a real concern moving forward.
I'll repeat this until blue in the face: Move him back to the left side, leave him on the left side.
This isn't excuse-making for Johnson any more than the above was for Brassard. But it's unfair to bring a player to Pittsburgh, promise a fresh start, then put him in a position where he's not at his best. Sure, he's capable on the right side. But he can demonstrably play the left side better, and that's got to be the priority.
• Chad Ruhwedel's set to make his season debut tonight, at the expense of Juuso Riikola. That's obviously not ideal, as Riikola's been better than at least a couple guys he'll be watching from the press gondola. Prominent among them is Olli Maatta, who robustly shared this minus with Johnson in Edmonton:
Ouch. Sorry, should have issued a warning about the graphic content.
• Enough with the Sullivan-hates-young-guys memes already. He's been benching Daniel Sprong -- and now he'll be scratching him tonight in favor of Derek Grant -- because Sprong's been the worst on the Penguins -- any position -- when measuring what the team creates and allows. When he's been on the ice, his team's generated 32 shots, allowed 63. That 33.68 Corsi For rating is actually among the worst in the league.
Sullivan's got every right to expect better, as he made clear again here yesterday after practice.
"It's a two-way street," he said. "We're putting guys on the ice who give us the best chance to have success in certain situations and, the way the schedule's unfolded to this point, there have been times we've shortened the bench. It's not always our intent going into games, but certainly performance has some influence on the decisions that the coaches make."
• Simon's been benched, too, and he's barely been any better than Sprong with a 38.33 Corsi For rating. I've had his back in terms of being under-appreciated for what he does bring, but if he isn't helping keep possession of the puck -- his universally accepted primary skill -- he isn't helping at all.
• Maybe it's time for Derek Grant. Sullivan's a good bet to start him Saturday in Vancouver, anyway -- he's a B.C. boy, and the coach respects that sort of thing -- so what's another game earlier?
• Zach Aston-Reese is an upgrade over any of these guys. The Penguins hoped to keep him in the AHL about a month to get his game back into gear after the tumultuous summer, so here's hoping that's taken literally and that he's waiting back in Pittsburgh when the team's charter flies back over the weekend.
• Man, this column's been a bummer so far, right?
You'd think the Penguins had lost a bunch in a row or something.
Here's a positive: For all the raving I've done over Letang's start, I've woefully under-raved regarding his partner. Dumoulin's skating, stickwork, durability and decision-making have been maybe the sharpest of his career. And don't forget, he nearly missed the opener with that upper-body injury and, for all we know, it hasn't had time to fully heal.
• One more: Jamie Oleksiak never deserved to be a healthy scratch, as all he's done from Day 1 of training camp is use his size, speed and even fists to prove his worth. With those two goals on the rush Tuesday, plus the fight with the Oilers' nutcase, Zack Kassian -- one for which Kassian should remain eternally grateful the linesmen jumped in early -- Oleksiak's just kept proving and proving some more.
I asked if he feels like that's necessary.
"I wouldn't say I really think of it like that," he answered. "I focus on my game and doing my best for the team every shift, no matter what the circumstance is. If that means a big hit or whatever, that's fine. If that means joining the attack, that's fine, too. It's just about doing my part."
• There was a time when Stanley Cups were contested in this province, when Edmonton and Calgary were hockey's legitimately fiercest rivals. Both teams still have a couple of marquee names, as the Penguins will be reminded here tonight when Johnny Gaudreau rushes up ice for the Flames, but those times aren't about to come back for either franchise.
And as that relates specifically to the Oilers, that saddens me at least a little. They're currently wasting Connor McDavid, a generational talent, on a truly mediocre roster. They're deeply flawed at all positions. Worse, by all accounts, there also isn't a whole lot of fresh oil coming through the pipeline, if you will.
I remember how it felt when Mario Lemieux entered the NHL and went five full seasons without making the playoffs, how it felt like this living legend was just being lost on a loser franchise, how he might have been better off somewhere else. After engaging in quite a few conversations on this subject over the past 48 hours, there's a lot of the same sense here, that Edmonton's management either can't or won't surround McDavid with the talent he needs.
You don't wait to do that. Not when the kid's already got two scoring titles.
• Chris Bradford and I will have your game coverage today from the skate to the faceoff to the final score and beyond. Because it's kind of what we do.